According to Wikipedia, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics tells us that "a 'social Darwinist' could just as well be a defender of laissez-faire as a defender of state socialism, just as much an imperialist as a domestic eugenist."

Historically, left-wing regimes have resorted to "survival of the fittest" social Darwinist offenses against humanity far more frequently than those on the right, especially if one classifies Nazi Germany as the predominantly leftist enterprise that it was.

In light of that history and current reality, Obama's "social Darwinism" accusation directed at Ryan and the GOP is especially outrageous coming from a guy whose administration has in so many ways been engaging in a slow-motion economic variant of it for over three years. The harm to relatively vulnerable and powerless groups arguably began with the advent of the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) economy almost four years ago as Obama's general election campaign shifted into high gear.

Take the job market. The most disproportionately unfit for gainful employment are those who haven't obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for those in this group who are 25 or older reached 15.9% in November 2010, and is still 12.6%:

In the 20 years the government has tracked this statistic, all 38 of the highest (i.e., worst) readings have been during each of the Obama administration's 38 full months in office.

Also note that the monthly reading for this challenging group fell to its lowest level on record in October 2006 during a Republican administration.